Gunnedah and District AFC Bulldogs were befallen from the final hurdle of the North West AFL 2024 men’s competition, defeated 100-53, by the Tamworth Swans in the preliminary final at the weekend.
At Tamworth’s Bicentennial, Number 1 Oval, the Bulldogs were prominent in the contest for three quarters of the match.
But after a five goal blitz from the Swans in the final term, unfortunately and ultimately, it eliminated the Bulldogs from the 2024 season.
Tasting finals footy for the first time since their undefeated premiership of 2020, the Bulldogs were up to their eyeballs in the contest, although trailing at every interval throughout the match.
Early on though, the Bulldogs kicked the first two majors, where congestion and attack on the ball was ferocious.
The tenacity through finals action was evident, with both sides breaking the contested deadlock by trading three majors in the first term.
Throughout that feeling out period, the Swans edged a combative Bulldogs, with three extra shots at goal nosing their way in front of the Bulldogs, leading by a slender three-point, 21-18 at quarter time.
Heat at the contest was proficient, and a passage throughout the second term extracted a period of both sides trading punches through majors. This was the theme of the match for the first three quarters.
Although hitting the front midway through the second term, the efficiency in transitioning the footy from defence to attack was lacking for the Bulldogs.
Efficiency needed at crucial moments was lacking from the Bulldogs, and understandably so, due to inexperience in such finals situations.
The Swans, conversely, were adept and able to seize on their opportunities, due to their prominence over a conglomerated period of time with the progressive experience of finals campaigns over the last five seasons.
However, by half time, the Bulldogs were still on the precipice of an upset, and a potential grand final berth.
An ability to complete their attacking raids from half back, and into the forward line inside the Bulldogs defensive zones, saw the Swans keep their noses in front, marginally, by the main durational half time interval, 40-35.
The Swans battened down the hatches in the third quarter as the Bulldogs broke free of contests in defence and the middle of the ground. The Bulldogs couldn’t quite convert inside forward 50 to put scoreboard pressure on their opposition.
The Bulldogs struggled to pepper the goals, or inside the attacking 50 metre arc, where time and again composure with the footy in hand was lacking.
Following errant entries into the forward line from the Bulldogs, the Swans were proficient at the other end as the Bulldogs still trailed by 21 points, 68-47.
From there, the Swans, a hungry side that’s contested the last three grand finals without a premiership to show, showed a young Bulldogs outfit what previous finals experience represents.
Unfortunately, they blew the Bulldogs off the park in the last term, booting five unanswered majors, inside the first 10 minutes of the last quarter to eliminate the Bulldogs from the 2024 competition.
Although the scoreline blew out in the last term to a 47-point, 100-53 defeat, coach Jakob Vearing was reflective about the progress his side has made since the start of the season.
The growth of youth within the squad, emphasised its will to learn, grow and evolve exponentially from young boys into young men.
“Was great to see the boys so competitive, they played with maturity and had some great passages of play,” Vearing said.
“Unfortunately, we burnt a few too many opportunities and ran out of steam in the end.
“But we had an objective on the day much like the season and I think we accomplished that.”
He was particularly pragmatic about the potential of the side, with an overarching feeling of proudness that envelopes him for the Bulldogs men’s side for future years.
“We had the goal of building ourselves into a competitive side,” he said.
“While the job isn’t done, I think the league is already bracing for a strong and consistent Gunnedah side in the near future.
“Another stepping stone this year, this side could be anything in years to come.”
On the day, captain Adam Curgenven stood head and shoulders above, in and under at stoppage, hard at ground level through contested ball and constantly willing his side to follow his lead in inspirational fashion.
Meanwhile, favourite for the best and fairest this season, Darcy Hill, was moved by Vearing from the midfield back to a half back flank in an attempt to nullify the engrossing threat of Swans danger man Kaleb Crowhurst.
Hill kept the livewire Crowhust to three majors on the day, where in Crowhurst’s past three matches he had booted 28 majors in four matches.
Also, in a fitting touch, retiring forward, club legend, life member and stalwart, Mark Ewington booted his final and 412th major, in his 171st match for the club – a record that is deemed to be inevitably unprecedented and never proceeded.
On a further positive note for the ever growing embryo of the Bulldogs over the past three seasons, captain Curgenven, in a ‘lead from the front’ approach, Hill as a smooth operator, and Dan Pass since taking to AFL, form a colloquial core for the future of the side.
But it’s the excitement of youth that has enveloped over the season, with the potential to see the side grow into a combinational force upon the AFL North West competition.
Mason Louis, Liam Naismith – nephew of Sydney Swans and Richmond Tigers AFL representative Sam – Callan Gibson, Eamon Martin and combined with the likes of Alisdair Hewitt and Andrew Osmond, form the crux of potential for a side that could shake the competition in future seasons, albeit falling short in season 2024.
Scores:
Tamworth Swans:
Q1
3.3.21
Q2
6.4.40
Q3
10.8.68
Q4
15.10.100
Gunnedah Bulldogs:
Q1
3.0.18
Q2
5.5.35
Q3
7.5.47
Q4
8.5.53
Goal Scorers – Andy Mack – 2, Tom Carlyon, Mark Ewington, Adam Curgenven, Hayden Edwards, Joe Montague, Dan Pass – 1
Best players – Adam Curgenven, Andrew Osmond, Hayden Edwards, Darcy Hill, Mason Louis, Luke Johanson
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